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Head Tax on CBC TV with Oliva Chow vs Raymond Chan

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Head Tax on CBC TV with Oliva Chow vs Raymond Chan

CBC TV hosted Toronto Councillor & NDP candidate and Raymond
Chan Minister of State (Multiculturalism) on TV this morning. 
This issues is becoming big and bigger as more and more Chinese
Canadian head tax descendants become more aware of the issue.  I
just had a phone call from a stranger that saw the broadcast – and
asked me how to find her grandfather's documentation.  Expect this
more and more…

Host(s): MIKE DUFFY

MIKE DUFFY: Well a murky chapter in Canadian history has resurfaced in this
federal election campaign. Just prior to the fall of the minority government,
the Liberals announced an agreement with the Chinese-Canadian community. They
would be given millions of dollars to build an educational facility to
acknowledge that Canada had put restrictions on Chinese immigrants called a
head tax which was in place from 19, I'm sorry 1885 to 1923. But many
people say the deal doesn't go far enough. Others say it will open up a
Pandora's box of litigations from other ethnic groups. Joining me tonight in
Vancouver, the Minister of Multiculturalism, the Honourable Raymond Chan, and in
Toronto the NDP candidate in that city Olivia Chow. So, Ms Chow, what's wrong
with the proposal the government's put forward to recognize that the head
tax was a wrong thing?

OLIVIA CHOW (NDP Candidate): I don't know, Mike, why it's so difficult for a
Canadian government, the Liberal party, to actually say “sorry”, apologize for
the wrong so that the 250 people that are still left, that are still alive that
have paid a head tax could at least get a sense of justice. Apologize and
then begin the reconciliation talk so that they can perhaps get a symbolic
compensation. Doesn't have to be too much. We did it for the Japanese-Canadians.
Why can't we do it for the Chinese-Canadians?

DUFFY: Let me just go back over the ground for people who may not be aware of
this issue. What the government is saying is that instead of giving money to
individual people who were harmed by this, as the Mulroney government did for
the Japanese who were interned during the Second World War, the Martin
government is saying let's give a general grant to the community and let the
community use it to build a kind of cultural centre, a memorial museum to remind
future generations of what happened. So there is a different approach between
the two.

CHOW: It's also, the way the money's being doled out is not at all
transparent. And one of the groups that are receiving the money is not formally
established yet. The Montreal Cultural Centre that was announced actually
doesn't quite formally exist. So it's murky in the way that where is the money
going, what's the formal application process, who is qualified? Are these people
are special connected friends of the Liberal party? Is that why they are getting
the money?

DUFFY: No, no, they would never do that.

CHOW: Well I don't know what the Gomery inquiry is all about.

DUFFY: The culture of entitlement. Well, we've lost Minister Chan somehow.
The satellite went down. We're working on that.

CHOW: Maybe it is the ghost of the people that have actually passed away.
It's actually quite sad.

DUFFY: It's not a very good omen. But while we try to get him back, how
serious is the division within the Chinese-Canadian community?

CHOW: If you consider the day that this was announced, this deal was
announced, it was all very secretive, but when it was announced, one of the
local Chinese stations did a poll. Eighty-eight percent of the Chinese-Canadians
that phoned in said, no, this is terrible. This is not good. Twelve percent said
ah, maybe this is a good thing. So you can tell that a lot of people said, look,
already a lot of these seniors have passed away and shouldn't we at bare minimum
apologize and then do the reconciliation so that a historical wrong can be
overcome. And just going, just throwing the money out there is a wasteful of
money and it doesn't do anything.

DUFFY: So the choice, and we're still trying to get Minister Chan, so the
choice is between giving several million dollars to a community centre to build
a kind of museum, and giving cheques to individual people. Would it be the same
amount of money? What if somebody who doesn't know this says, oh, they're just
looking for free money from the government.

CHOW: Well, actually there are certificates that they have to pay. It doesn't
have to be a big amount. It could also just be a symbolic amount. And maybe some
of these head taxpayers don't even want the money. I think the key thing is
respect them, ask them what they want to do with the money. Some of them may not
want the money. They may want to use it for education purposes. Fine. But at
least ask them, respect them. One of the group that…

DUFFY: Ms. Chow, I'm sorry, the Minister is back on the line. Minister, our
sincere apology, I don't know what happened. You've been able to hear our
discussion? RAYMOND CHAN (Minister of Multiculturalism): Yes I have been
listening.

DUFFY: We just didn't have your picture and sound. So now you've heard Ms
Chow's point of view. Tell us why the government did what it's doing and what
you hope the reaction from the community will be.

CHAN: First of all, the head tax thing is a very terrible thing that
the past government have done in the 100 years ago. And…

DUFFY: Maybe some Canadians don't understand that. Any Chinese coming to
Canada during that period from 1885 to 1920, whatever, had to pay how much for
every single person? They had to pay the Canadian government to come here.

CHAN: Close to about $500. And it is something that is terribly wrong.

DUFFY: And in those days it was a heck of a lot of money.

CHOW: You could buy a house.

CHAN: The issue is, Mike, is that the government's position is that we have
to acknowledge that this kind of thing was terribly wrong, and then we have to
commemorate and educate our children and the children of our children to the
dark pages of our history and make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.
But the issue is that an apology would open up the Canadian taxpayers for
unlimited liability, financial liability, and that's why you can't do it.

CHOW: Oh, excuse me. You know, this whole case has gone to the Supreme Court,
and the courts have said that this is a political issue, that apology is fine,
and they have the court case.

CHAN: No.

CHOW: They have a court case, and legally there is no other route to go, so
don't hide behind the legal pressure. Japanese-Canadians had no problem. They
had a compensation.

CHAN: The court has said that the government is not liable, but even if they
are not liable and yet we still apologize and pay out compensation that would
open up all the cases for everybody else.

DUFFY: It becomes an admission of guilt. You are afraid it becomes… CHAN:
And also legally liability.

CHOW: No.

CHAN: For limited financial cases.

CHOW: Minister, it has gone to the, Minister, it has gone to the court.

CHAN: That's right.

CHOW: The court said that there is no case for it. So the whole liability,
the legal issue is a red herring. Why wouldn't you apologize? Brian Mulroney,
even though I'm not a Tory, apologized. There was no legal case. Nothing
happened. He apologized.

DUFFY: But Ms Chow.

CHOW: So why is that a problem?

UFFY: Sorry, we're almost out of time.
Interesting, Pierre Trudeau said no way to any group, not to the Japanese, the
Chinese, no one because he said we are not responsible for the sins of our
fathers. Brian Mulroney opened to the Japanese, and now minister, you've got all
of this on your plate, not just the Chinese but many other groups, right?

CHAN: Everybody else, because the issue is that even though the courts have
said that we're not liable. but at the same time if he decided to come and
apologize then that will lead the government to be liable for everything that
the courts said we're not liable for. And that would expose the Canadian
taxpayer for unlimited financial liability.

CHOW: So let me ask you then, if you don't want to apologize, you don't want
to compensate, why are you putting aside that money, and why isn't that money
open for different groups to apply. What is it the criteria? You know that $2.5
million there is no criteria.

CHAN: This is a problem of you that you keep on… CHOW: Canadian household.

CHAN: You keep on saying that we hand out money, and now you are saying that
we have not handed out money.

CHOW: You did.

CHAN: We have not. We're just coming together with the Chinese community to
form a foundation with people from the success, from the Chinese cultural
association across Canada, with the Chinese Free Masons. We never seen that kind
of historical support from across the country of the Chinese community on one
single government project. They come together to form a foundation and then they
would judge which project they should finance and which ones they shouldn't.

DUFFY: Mr. Minister, Olivia Chow, thank you both for joining us. Terribly
sorry for the technical problems earlier. That's what happens sometimes with
live TV. We appreciate you both for coming in tonight.

–30–

Winter Solstice in Vancouver – Dong Zhi at the Chinese Classical Dr. Sen Yat Sen Gardens

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Winter Solstice in Vancouver – Dong Zhi at the Chinese Classical Dr. Sen Yat Sen Gardens





Today is Winter Solstice.  It is a significant time for many
cultures around the world.  In Chinese, it is called Dong Zhi in
mandarin.  As a chilld growing up in Vancouver, I never learned
about many Chinese traditions as my family became integrated and
assimilated as 2nd 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Canadians.

Vancouver is a hub for cross-cultural events and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Gardens
is a leading proponent.  For the past two years, I have been
attending the Winter solstice events at the gardens.  It is
decorated with hand made lanterns and is gorgeous.  Leaves that
fell during the fall, are placed on lanterns and hung back on the
trees. I particularly enjoyed my 2003 Winter Solstice visit to the gardens where I met and talked with erhu musician Ji Rong Huang.

For this year's visit I have invited new friends to attend with me, from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, and the Save Kogawa House committee.

If you come…. remember to bring your camera!

Ujjal Dosanjh supports the preservation of Kogawa House

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Ujjal Dosanjh supports the preservation of Kogawa House

This morning the Save Kogawa House committee met with federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh who is MP for Vancouver South which includes the child hood home of Joy Kogawa at 1450 West 64th Avenue.

Both Minister Dosanjh and Mrs. Dosanjh were very warm and welcoming to
our committee.  The Save Kogawa House Committee was represented by
co-ordinators Ann-Marie Metten and Todd Wong (me), Ellen Crowe-Swords,
and Steve Turnbull.  Joy Kogawa also accompanied us, and former
City Councillor Ellen Woodsworth accompanied us as an advocate.

Our background information gave him the importance of
preserving this house, as he was unaware that not only was the 1915
house one of the last remaining original Marpole homes, it is the only
identified house in Vancouver that had been confiscated by the Canadian
government due to the internment of Japanese Canadians in 1942.

Minister Dosanjh was very supportive of our efforts to save and
preserve Kogawa House, but was cautious of what he could commit to
because of the uncertainty whether he would be re-elected or
re-instated in cabinet.

In our discussions, we talked about how previous 2003 efforts by the
Kogawa House committee to obtain Canada Parks heritage status had been
turned down, because the person in questin being honoured must have
been dead for 30 years.  Dosanjh agreed that the 1942 Japanese
Canadian internment would qualify as an event to be recognized and
commemorated.

We were very specific that we were not asking for further redress for
the Japanese Canadian internment, but to recognize Joy Kogawa's
achivements as an important Canadian author and literary figure. 
He did share to having purchased a copy of “Obasan” a number of years
ago, but also admitted to not having finished reading the book. 

We told him about the Vancouver Opera's
production of Naomi's Road, currently touring schools in British
Columbia, and volunteered to find him a performance at a school in his
Vancouver Riding for him to see in the new Year.  Dosanjh listened
attentively when we shared with him, how the opera has become a
catalyst for healing in both the Japanese Canadian and Canadian
communities, as so many audience members have been emotionally moved by
it's performances.

As well, we shared with the Minister that the January 22, 2006, Gung
Haggis Fat Choy dinner will share fundraising proceeds with the Save
Kogawa House campaign, and invited him to the spectacular multicultural
event.  I pointed out that my opera soprano friend Veera devi Khare
had performed at the 2005 dinner, and that I had helped recommend and
arrange for Veera to perform at his 2004 fundraiser event.

And we invited him to listen to CBC Radio Sounds Like Canada on Dec.
26th, as Shelagh Rogers (2006 GHFC co-host) will interview Joy about
the Save Kogawa House campaign, and her literary career.

Minister Dosanjh was clearly moved by our presentation, committment to
multiculturalism, and enthusiasm for turning Kogawa House into a
writing centre for the benefit of all Canadians, while simultaneouly
paying respect to an important time in our history.  He next spoke
about how Western Canada has been short-changed in Canada Council
grants for the arts.  He said he was shocked at the statistics,
when he discovered that BC and the Maritimes were under-represented, as
most Canada Council grants went to Ontario and Quebec.  He vowed
to help us in whatever ways possible given the constraints of the
present election season, and noting that after the election on Jan 23,
we would only have about 60 days left to save Kogawa House from
demolition.

We left the meeting feeling that while we had Dosanjh's ear, clearly he
is in election mode.  But he gave us some good directions to move
towards, particularly that he would put in a word for us with Carole
Taylor, the MLA for the Marpole neighborhood, and coincidently the
Finance Minister of the provincial Liberal government.

We were therefore thrilled to later learn that Minister Dosanjh would
like to have a quick and timely follow up meeting with us on
Wednesday.  Since it will be on December 21st, Winter solstice, we
are hoping our meeting will be a turning point for the Save Kogawa
House campaign as we are presently trying to secure government funding
for the project.

Burns poetry fit for Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2006

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Burns poetry fit for Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2006

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner has picked up a noteriety as a “very
Canadian” event and a Vancouver cultural tradition – known around
Vancouver,  but also increasingly across Canada, in Scotland and
around the world – with special thanks to the media and the internet.

This morning I recieved a phone call from Jim Bain, one of the organizers of the BC Highland Games and the Sons of Scotland. 
Jim's wife is a Chinese Canadian descendant of head tax payers, so
their children can claim to have ancestors who have been both run out
of the Scottish Highlands during the “Clearings” after the Uprising at
Culloden in 1745, as well as having been forced to pay the racist head
tax only targeted at Chinese immigrants to Canada from 1885 to 1923.

Jim wanted to draw my attention to Burns' 1786 poem “Address Of
Beelzebub” which honours the efforts of five hundred Highlanders who
sought to emmigrate to Canada to find liberty and freedom.  After
the 1745 uprising, many Highlanders were put into prisons and
indentured labour.  It was a tough life, as many of their former
lands were taken away from them and given away to English lords as
favours – for whom they then had to work for.

Address Of Beelzebub
1786

Long life, my Lord, an' health be yours,
Unskaithed by hunger'd Highland boors;
Lord grant me nae duddie, desperate beggar,
Wi' dirk, claymore, and rusty trigger,
May twin auld Scotland o' a life
She likes-as butchers like a knife.

Faith you and Applecross were right
To keep the Highland hounds in sight:
I doubt na! they wad bid nae better,
Than let them ance out owre the water,
Then up among thae lakes and seas,
They'll mak what rules and laws they please:
Some daring Hancocke, or a Franklin,
May set their Highland bluid a-ranklin;
Some Washington again may head them,
Or some Montgomery, fearless, lead them,
Till God knows what may be effected
When by such heads and hearts directed,
Poor dunghill sons of dirt and mire
May to Patrician rights aspire!
Nae sage North now, nor sager Sackville,
To watch and premier o'er the pack vile, –
An' whare will ye get Howes and Clintons
To bring them to a right repentance-
To cowe the rebel generation,
An' save the honour o' the nation?
They, an' be d-d! what right hae they
To meat, or sleep, or light o' day?
Far less-to riches, pow'r, or freedom,
But what your lordship likes to gie them?

But hear, my lord! Glengarry, hear!
Your hand's owre light to them, I fear;
Your factors, grieves, trustees, and bailies,
I canna say but they do gaylies;
They lay aside a' tender mercies,
An' tirl the hallions to the birses;
Yet while they're only poind't and herriet,
They'll keep their stubborn Highland spirit:
But smash them! crash them a' to spails,
An' rot the dyvors i' the jails!
The young dogs, swinge them to the labour;
Let wark an' hunger mak them sober!
The hizzies, if they're aughtlins fawsont,
Let them in Drury-lane be lesson'd!
An' if the wives an' dirty brats
Come thiggin at your doors an' yetts,
Flaffin wi' duds, an' grey wi' beas',
Frightin away your ducks an' geese;
Get out a horsewhip or a jowler,
The langest thong, the fiercest growler,
An' gar the tatter'd gypsies pack
Wi' a' their bastards on their back!
Go on, my Lord! I lang to meet you,
An' in my house at hame to greet you;
Wi' common lords ye shanna mingle,
The benmost neuk beside the ingle,
At my right han' assigned your seat,
'Tween Herod's hip an' Polycrate:
Or if you on your station tarrow,
Between Almagro and Pizarro,
A seat, I'm sure ye're well deservin't;
An' till ye come-your humble servant,

Beelzebub.
June 1st, Anno Mundi, 5790.

Successful Dec 18 meeting for head tax payers and descendants

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Successful Dec 18 meeting for head tax payers and descendants

A good meeting today with lots of action and movement.  Sid counted
about 85 people attending our meeting.  I chaired, with interpretation
from Gabriel, and Joseph.  Also speaking were Sid, Foon, Thekla and
our special Toronto guest Dora Nipp.

We followed the agenda with a few additions which were:
1 – Do we organize officially under the societies act and with what name – generally the answer was Yes – and same name
2 – Eric Chan is doing a documentary and interviewing people willing to share stories about head tax and exclusion
3 – Talk by Dora Nipp, and what is happening in Toronto and Ontario
4 – Cynthia is doing an art project and would like copies of head tax certifcate images

Lots of people commented on what we could
do.  They brought photocopies of head tax certificates, and they signed
petitions, and they took petitions and information sheets home with
them.

Our strategy for the Christmas break is to go enjoy our
parties with families and friends, and share with them the head tax
redress issues.  It is important that our numbers will grow.

In January we will:
1 – hold workshops on how to research your family head tax certificate
2 – hold information sessions/meetings on head issues as we have been doing.
3 – collect stories on head tax payers and descendants
4 – organize all-candidate meetings on head tax issues.

Our next meeting will be January 8th – 1:30pm
Sunday at Quan Lung Sai Tong Association
164 East Hastings St. – just across the lane from Carnegie Centre.

For more information
please contact myself Todd Wong 604-240-7090
or Sid Tan 604-433-6169

Brigadoon lifts up the kilts and spirits at Gateway Theatre in Richmond

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Brigadoon lifts up the kilts and spirits at Gateway Theatre in Richmond

Brigadoon
by Frederick Lowe & Alan Jay Lerner
Dec 9, 2005 to January 1, 2006
Gateway Theatre
Richmond, BC
Directed by David Adams


Vince Kanahoot
performs the sword dance with Jeremy Crittenden and Calvin Lee, while
Evelyn Thatcher, Dave Barton, Joe Mannion and Chelsey Yamasaki look on
– demonstrating the joys of colour-blind casting and seeing Asians
dancing in kilts – photo courtesy of Gateway Theatre

What happens when two Vancouverites go on a backpacking holiday to
Scotland and stumble upon a mystical magical town named Brigadoon,
which only appears once every one hundred years?

Many Vancouverites and Canadians can claim to have some Scottish blood
in their ancestry, and many more Vancouverites make attending Robbie
Burns Dinners an annual not-too-miss event.  This Lerner and Lowe
musical was first staged on Broadway in 1947 and ran for 581
performaces, before being made into a 1954 movie starring Gene Kelly,
Cyd Charisse and Van Johnson.

The town of Brigadoon was beset by evil from the outside world in 1705,
and a magic spell was put upon the town and its people to only reappear
for a single day, once every hundred years.  It is a story where
true love conquers all – but it must be a pure love because while one
of the hapful Vancourites, Tommy Albright, falls in love with resident
maiden Fiona MacLaren, Fiona's younger sister has a determined and
obsessive suitor who is determined not to enjoy her wedding day.

Mark Pawson and Evelyn Thatcher as Tommy Albright and Fiona MacLaren – photo courtesy of the Gateway Theatre.

Evelyn Thatcher is a wonderful Fiona, with a strong soprano singing
voice from an operatic background. Thatcher has a radiant presence
which makes it easy to see why all the town's people love her. 
Thatcher also delights with a sparkling Scottish accent, that reminded
me of my conversations with BBC Radio Scotland host Maggie Shiels of
the program “Scotland Licked!”

Mark Pawson plays Tommy Albright who must go through denial, then
self-doubt in order to discover his love for Fiona which he expresses
to his buddy Jeff Douglas, played wittingly by Leon Willey, when Pawson
sings the musical's signature song – “Almost Like Being in Love.”

Laura Jaszcz also provides great amusement as the bawdy man-hungry Meg
Brockie, who proves to be a strong match for Jeff's comic foil.

Jeremy Crittenden presents a wonderful Charlie Dalrymple, the character
who marries Fiona's sister Jean MacLaren played by Chelsea
Hochfilzer.  Crittenden shows off his ample skills by both dancing
and singing especially when performing “I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean.”

While the musical is filled with stereotypes of Scottish culture –
the Gateway team has worked hard to bring in a feeling of
authenticity.  And
it all seems to fit perfectly natural in a mystical land filled with
mist,
where the townsfolk all gaily dance and sing.  There is great
cameraderie and chemistry in the cast and they really seem to be
enjoying themselves in this production and project it well to the
audience.

During intermission I heard many audience members stating how much they
were enjoying the production.  On opening night, there was many a
kilt to be seen, as this play surely touches the heart and the many
inner-Scots for BCers (myself included).

It was particularly interesting to see so many Asian cast members
playing the roles of the Brigadoon townsfolk.  This is due to the
Gateway's policy of colour blind casting.  Vince Kanahoot plays
the important role of Harry, Jean MacLaren's dejected suitor. 
Calvin Lee plays the town barkeep, Chelsey Yamasaki plays one of the
town maidens.  I was also delighted to meet Filipino-Canadian
Alexi Geronimo who is the dancing cousin of  musician Raphael
Geronimo – leader of the band Rumba Calzada.  It all adds up to a multicultural reflection of the
community. 

The next step might be to have one of the travelling Vancouverites be an Asian and
fall in love with one of the Scottish maidens… but maybe that will
happen soon.  I couldn't help but wonder what happens when
Brigadoon is staged in Hong Kong, Singapore or Shanghai? 
Everybody would be Asian then!  Asian Scots!?!?!? how absurd – but
not so really when Vancouver can boast resident poet Fiona Lam, born in
Scotland of Chinese ancestry, as well as many other Vancouverites born of both Scottish and Chinese heritage.

Other articles/reviews of Brigadoon:
Richmond News: Bring On Brigaoon by Michelle Hopkins.

Gateway Theatre's Brigadoon featuring Jeremy Crittenden(Charlie), Vince
Kanasoot (Harry), and Calvin Lee performing a sword dance, background
l-r Evelyn Thatcher(Fiona), Dave Barton (Mr. Lundie), Joe Mannion and
Chealsea Yamasaki  – photo courtesy of Gateway Theatre